About this artwork

Baird’s paintings are characterised by an obsessive attention to detail, and this meticulously painted still life is no different. Painted during the war years when fruit was scarce, the apples and pears had been brought from abroad by the artist's brother. However, as Baird was a perfectionist, by the time he had finished the painting the apples and pears were completely rotten – an extravagance, friends said, given the scarcity of fruit during the war years. The blue and white jug is known as a ‘Glasgow Jug’.

Edward MacEwan Baird

Edward MacEwan Baird

Baird was born in Montrose in 1904 and studied at Glasgow School of Art from 1924 to 1927. He became a close friend of James McIntosh Patrick, sharing his painstaking approach to realism. Baird returned to Montrose after graduating and lived there for the rest of his life, painting local…